United States v. Michael Galante

I respectfully dissent from the approval of a downward departure, relieving Michael Ga-lante, convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin, of any term of imprisonment on the basis of his family circumstances.

One of the major purposes of the introduction of the Sentencing Guidelines was the avoidance of unwarranted disparities among defendants guilty of similar conduct with similar records. Accordingly, “[b]efore a departure is permitted, certain aspects of the case must be found unusual enough for it to fall outside the heartland of eases in the Guideline.” Koon v. United States, — U.S. -,…